Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Lemon Angel Food Cupcakes

If you couldn't tell, I absolutely love, adore, & worship desserts. Ask me to pick a favorite and I'd first salivate thinking of all the delicious treats I've come to know and love. Tiramisu? Bourbon Bread Pudding? Mint Chocolate Chip ice Cream....Oh my. The choices. The calories.

Lemon Angel Food Cupcakes
Believe it or not, I'd have to say that I'd pick angel food as one of my top 3 favorites (I just can't pick a favorite, ok?). A treat that even Gym Barbie could love, angel food is essentially made from cake flour, egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar. Read my lips: I am yummy but fat free!

I've always wanted to make my {one of top 3} favorite dessert, but buying a huge tube pan that I'll use for nothing more than one dessert seems like a whole lot of commitment to me. You also need to let the whole angel food cake cool upside down for an hour. Not one for patience or large kitchen pans, homemade angel food cake hasn't really been an option until I came across this tasty recipe from Baking Bites.


Lemon Angel FoodWith a hint of lemon, these cupcakes are light, fluffy and sweet. I absolutely loved them. Hubby loved them too, but finally admitted to me that he felt a little *cheated* because they were so light! Back to chocolate and calories, I guess :)

Lemon Angel Food Cupcakes with Icing

Lemon Angel Food Cupcakes
Courtesy of Baking Bites
3/4 cup superfine sugar, divided
1/2 cup sifted cake flour
5 large egg whites, room temperature
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of one lemon

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
2. In a small bowl, sift together cake flour and 1/4 cup superfine sugar.
3. In a large bowl, beat room-temperature egg whites until foamy, then add in cream of tartar and salt. Gradually add in the remaining 1/2 cup of superfine sugar while the mixer is on high speed, beating the egg whites to soft peaks.
4. Fold in flour mixture, adding it in two or three additions.
5. Divide evenly into prepared muffin tins. The tins should be quite full.
6. Bake for 16-18 minutes, until golden brown. The tops will spring back when lightly touched.
7. Cool on a wire rack (no need to flip them upside down, as is usually done with full-sized angle food cakes).

Lemon Icing Drizzle
Confectioner's Sugar
fresh lemon juice

Combine confectioners sugar with lemon juice until the icing is a drizzable (is that a word?!) consistency. Drizzle on top of cooled cupcakes.
Makes 12 cupcakes.

47 comments:

Dewi said...

Sounds like very special cupcakes. Delicious.
Cheers,
Elra

Melissa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Melissa said...

mouth is watering. those look delicious.

La Bella Cooks said...

I am a huge fan of angel food cake so I definitely need to give these a try. The recipe sounds much simpler than making the cake as well, so who can refuse? Looks great, Sharon!

MaryBeth said...

These sound so light and lemony,they look fabulous.

Anonymous said...

Guilt-free cupcakes? I may need this soon! They look so sunny and light - lovely.

Esi said...

I love how light these are. The look so summery!! (in the middle of winter)

Larissa said...

Mmm...they look divine!

Anonymous said...

These look fabulous - so light and airy.

Unknown said...

Before, I've never been a lemon fan (being given a lemon isn't a good thing in Cantonese, eh?). But once I baked a lemon cake...I am so hooked! light, fluffy and everything. yours look heavenly, babe!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Stunning!!

kat said...

Oh I want to make these!

Maria said...

Lovely cupcakes. I love the lemon flavor here!

Anonymous said...

Wow those cupcakes look amazing. I just saved the recipe to try this weekend!

grace said...

yes, angel food cacke is light, but all that means is that i can eat more of it without feeling the effects until it's too late. :)

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, love the idea of lemon with angel food...very nice.

That Girl said...

This is the perfect dessert for my parent's housewarming party I'm catering! They're trying to keep it "healthy and light"

Laura said...

Those look wonderful. I love angel food cake too--and during the "Fat Free 90s" I think I probably consumed 1000s of calories in angel food. Oooops. :)

Anonymous said...

I love what it called! Looks so moist and rich! I made some lemon muffins at my home and they were so yummy. So, I can imagine how are these!

Emily said...

Yummy! These look delicious. I think lemon works perfectly with angel food cake. You can't do any better.

Fantastic job!

Snooky doodle said...

these look so nice and light. I ve always been afraid of failure with angel food cakes. Maybe though cupcakes are less difficult to make. I d like to make these . Look so nice :)

Sophie said...

I also adore desserts :); angel food cake is always yummy, you can do so many things with it or eat it alone, it's always tasty!

vanillasugarblog said...

I'm with you, I love desserts. I love sweet & salty desserts moreso.
These look wonderful. I had completely forgotten about the infamous Gym Barbie! LOL

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

They look heavenly! Lemon Angel Food Cupcakes, that's awesome! Delicious!

Cheers,

Rosa

Anonymous said...

Mmm... Those look so cute...
Cheers,
Miette

Donna-FFW said...

These look so delightfully refreshing. They sound sooo good and your photos make them look tantalizing! So YUM!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Sharon!

I'm doing well. How are you? I got into photography about 6 months ago. Finally decided to do it part time for now. It's so much fun!
Anyway, when are you coming back in town? We should do lunch or something! :)

Have a wonderful V-day!

Hayley said...

I love your pictures, and the cupcakes look so light and fluffy. I bet they would be wonderful with some sort of raspberry swirl inside. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

What I love about angel food cake is it's low in fat, compared to most baked goods. So you CAN have your cake and eat it, too. ;)

Pam said...

I love the dripping glaze. Great photos.

test it comm said...

Those cupcakes look great!

Ana Powell said...

Hi
Delicious cupcakes.
Beautiful presentation and lovely photos.
Great post xxx

Mo said...

I love the idea of lemon and angel food! Like you I never made homemade angel food cake because I didn't want to invest in the pan. I will definately make these - brilliant!

Anonymous said...

these look so delicate and lemon in anything is simply heavenly! Happy Valentine's Day - hope you have sugary, sweet one xx

Clumbsy Cookie said...

I wouldn't mind beeing cheated by those! Fat free or not they're a real treat for sure!

Unknown said...

I love angel food cake! Lemon flavored and cupcake size is even better!

Sara said...

These are so pretty, I have an abundance of lemons right now, and this looks like the perfect recipe to try!

Anonymous said...

good for you for even having a top 3! mine are endless! LOL! I love the mini size of these. keeps the calories at bay, you know! Check out the fudge truffles I made just yesterday! You might add it to your list of faves! ;)

PS: did u ever get ur package...

Katrina said...

Fat free and they look and sound totally delicious to me! Gonna have to try this.

The Blonde Duck said...

Those look fabulous!

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

These are beautiful

daphne said...

yum! What a treat! I love the drizzle of icing (or what looks like it). Looks light and fluffy!

Unknown said...

YUM!!! Those look amazing!!

Olivia said...

These look so light and healthy!

Richelle said...

Have you ever run into the dilemma of the cupcakes falling because they are not inverted? I have been searching for a great cupcake version of angel food and have been scared silly into not attempting to make them. Please tell me your thoughts. :) New to your blog and luv luv luv it!

Sharon said...

Hi Richelle,

I actually made these because I'm intimidated by the tube pan / inverted step of making angel food cake! I had no problem with these so definitely recommend you trying them.

sarah said...

Did you have any issues with the cake sticking to the cupcake papers?